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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Finn’s bedroom door was locked.
Theo grabbed the knob and crushed it, shoving the door open. “Harley!”
Finn jumped up from his computer chair, almost tripping over his cape in the process. His face was painted white. His red lips broke into a nervous grin when he saw Theo’s thunderous expression.
“You’re not rocking your monster skin,” he said. “You know I can kick you out of the party for that, right?”
He bared his plastic fangs. Theo wanted to punch that giddy smile off his face. Kade might die tonight, for good this time. The town might go down with him. And here was Finn, bouncing in his stupid plastic cape. He had a speaker set up on his computer desk and a huge monitor showing a bird’s-eye view of the dancefloor. He also had a dead aloe plant on his nightstand, which only made Theo even more furious. Aloe plants were one of the easiest plants to take care of, and this asshole had let it rot.
“You really want to get back out there,” Finn continued. “Big finale coming up.”
“What’s the prize?” Theo barked.
Finn’s grin slipped. He had finally noticed his broken door. “Whoa, what the hell?”
Theo charged him, slamming him effortlessly up against the wall. “What’s. The. Prize ? What was in that bag you dug up with my mom?”
“Your mom?” Finn said, voice ratcheting up several pitches. “I don’t know anything about your mom!”
Theo punched him in the stomach.
Finn folded like a wet paper towel. He stared up at Theo, eyes wet, face slowly going red.
“ Dude ,” he choked. He held up his hands. He was always like this, even in middle school: all his bravado vanished the second someone dared call him out on his bullshit. It was why he never rose in the popularity ranks until both Theo and Aaron were taken out of the running.
Theo glanced toward the door. He couldn’t hear Kade following him. He’d been right behind Theo, right?
He looked at the screen showing the dancefloor. No commotion, no screaming, just teenagers busting a move in monster makeup. Whatever had distracted Kade, it wasn’t the chaos they were waiting for.
Finn touched his arm cautiously. “L-look, man?—”
Theo turned back and shook him. “The bag you pulled out of the woods, what’d you do with it?”
“I…” Finn blinked, dazed. “Y-your mom said I could have it, man. You can have some, I’m gonna keep some of it anyway. Whoever wins the prize isn’t going to know.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Theo changed tactics. “What did they promise you?”
Finn spluttered. “My parents?”
Theo bared his teeth, letting them sharpen into fangs. “You see me growling, Finn? I will bite your goddamn throat out. What did they promise you, you idiot ?”
“Oh wow those are cool,” Finn said in a rush. He giggled fearfully. “ Shit . You really went all in when you started dating Monster, huh?”
Theo bit a chunk out of his shoulder.
Finn’s giggle became a shriek. He writhed against Theo’s grip, kicking uselessly.
“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?” he sobbed. “IT’S MY BIRTHDAY , YOU LITTLE FREAK!”
Theo slammed his head into the wall. “What the hell is going on, Harley?”
“Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you!” Finn gasped, blood leaking into his shirt. “Y-your mom promised me an internship at her law firm over the summer! A-and maybe she’ll give me some of your inheritance?”
Theo stared at him. Finn was curled up and sniveling, shaking in Theo’s grip.
“She said she wanted to surprise you,” Finn cried. “She said you loved surprises, that she’d make everything up to you!”
Theo swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth. “And the bag?”
“Moonshine,” Finn blurted. “It’s super old, really potent! Your mom spiked the punch for me! I’m going to give half the bag to whoever wins the costume contest!”
“My mom spiked the punch?” Theo repeated, incredulous. He turned again, watching teens stumble and sway on the monitor.
So they’ll be useless in a fight, Theo realized with dawning horror. His hand tightened unconsciously in Finn’s shirt.
I wanted to see what you’d do, Victor had told him once. Finn was a test. A distraction . Every time, his dad set a trap. And Theo had walked into it like an idiot, every single time. Still dancing on his father’s strings.
He set Finn down with a thump.
Finn made a wet noise, every sweaty inch of him trembling. “What are you? Did you kidnap the Emmerson siblings? Did you kill Skeeter Bass?”
Theo sighed. He didn’t have time for this. He had to find Kade.
He grabbed Finn’s shoulders, ignoring Finn’s terrified meep.
“Something terrible is going to happen,” Theo announced. “I need you to get everybody the hell out of here. Blast it on the speakers, take away the punch, turn the lights on. Get them out. Now .”
Finn stared at him, blood and tears and snot dripping down his chin.
“But it’s the party of the year,” he said weakly.
An ear-splitting scream ripped through the house. Finn jumped, and Theo caught the scent of a not inconsiderable amount of pee.
Another yell accompanied it, pained and fierce.
“FAIRGOOD,” Beverly Sloan screamed. “GET HERE, NOW!”
“Shit,” Theo spat, and ran.
The party was in chaos. Teenagers in monster masks screaming, running, crashing into each other as they tried to escape. Dance until you die, sang Finn’s prerecorded voice in shoddy autotune. D-d-dance until you d-d-die.
Theo saw Russel first. Crouching in front of a shattered window, holding a freshman’s arms down while he fed.
Theo tackled him. They slammed into the wall, Russel thankfully releasing his grip on the crying freshman.
“It’s me,” Theo growled as Russel snarled and swiped. “Hey! Quit it!”
A rope of fire eye descended around Russel’s neck. Beverly Sloan yanked him back, not even looking at Russel as he clawed at his smoking restraints. She was too busy aiming her crossbow at a feral Ryan Emmerson, who was trying to bite Skeeter’s finger off.
She squeezed the trigger. Ryan Emmerson jerked, unlatching their fangs from Skeeter’s hand as an arrow exploded through their shoulder.
“Your boyfriend’s missing,” Beverly told Theo.
He didn’t reply. He had finally spotted Milly, who was chasing a guy from Theo’s math class into the kitchen, her hair a tangled mess, her eyes solid black. And Delilah Emmerson, who was feasting on an adult chaperone as their daughter screamed and sprayed her with pepper spray, which made the adult choke and Delilah roar in annoyance.
But the worst was Sundance. She was on the ceiling, digging her nails into the wood. Her head twisted, meeting Theo’s gaze. There was no gruff understanding in her eyes. No amused twinkle. Just black.
He couldn’t see Felicity. He supposed that was for the best. She was lethal when she was human, he didn’t particularly want to see what she could do as a starving, feral vampire.
“Theo,” Beverly prompted. She yanked Russel’s fire eye chain tighter, making Russel yowl and tear at the ropes. Any more ripping and he’d break free.
“You need to go,” Beverly continued, raising her crossbow at a charging Ryan Emmerson. “Now!”
Theo shot up. He wanted to stay, to fight, to protect . But Kade was gone, which meant that there was much worse happening in the forest. He was playing right into their hands and he knew it. But that bone-deep doom that had been haunting Kade his whole life was finally catching up to him. Theo wasn’t going to let him face it alone.
Beverly shot a second time. Another arrow burst through Ryan’s leg, making them stumble to the ground.
“Nonlethal,” Theo reminded her.
She gave him a thunderous look. Not about the reminder, Theo realized. She hadn’t seen Felicity, either.
A ripping noise made them both look down. Russel had broken free of his fire eye rope and was blurring to his feet, his fangs bared.
Beverly bared her teeth back. It made her look so much like her daughter that Theo had the bizarre urge to laugh. She leveled her crossbow at him just as Ryan picked up speed behind her.
Theo cursed, readying himself to leap. But before he could, a dirty bottle spun out of nowhere and smashed into Russel’s head, knocking him sideways.
Finn Harley stood in the hallway door, tears streaming down his cheeks as the partygoers ran around him.
“Jump shot, asshole,” he squeaked. Any sense of pitiful triumph in his voice was shattered when Sundance slammed into him from above, pinning him to the ground and ripping into his already-bleeding cheek.
Theo stared out over the carnage: Sundance feeding. Classmates screaming and fleeing. Skeeter leaping onto Ryan Emmerson, jabbing her bleeding fingers into their eyes. The pepper-spray freshman attacking Delilah Emmerson with the bottle of moonshine Finn Harley had jump-shotted at Russel. And Russel being looped into yet another fire eye lasso as Beverly reloaded her crossbow.
“Go,” Beverly ordered, taking aim at Sundance. “We’ll take care of this.”
She didn’t say the next thing. She couldn’t say it. But the plea was obvious in her voice.
“I’ll get her back,” Theo promised.
Then he ran.